Entry Title: " Manila Jails"
Name:
Stephen Reiss
, United States
Category: Non-Professional, Feature Story


Entry Description: Suffering from a lack of funding and resources, the jails of the Philippine National Police in Manila are stretched thin. Overcrowded and lacking basic sanitation, prisoners are held for indefinite measures of time while waiting on the courts. Accused murderers and rapists share cramped cells with gang members and those arrested for theft and drug possession. Minors are jailed with adult offenders, despite recent laws prohibiting their incarceration. Visitors are allowed to mingle among the prisoners and bring food since the jails lack the provisions to feed all of the prisoners.

About the Artist:

He graduated from the documentary studies and photojournalism program at the International Center of Photography in 2009, where he was awarded the John and Annamaria Philips Foundation Scholarship for Photojournalism.